Corned meat



Patented Feb. 18 1947 v I CORNED MEAT up Harry H. McKee, Chicago, Ill.,assignor to Industrial Patents Corporation, Chicago, corporation ofDelaware N Drawing. Application June 18, 1943, Serial No. 491,387

This invention relates to an improved corned meat product and the methodof preparing the same.

Corned beef is conventionally prepared from either the brisket or therump by a curing process which involves submerging the-meat in thecuring: pickle for a period of at least 3 weeks, during which time themeat is cured and the color fixed. After treatment in the pickling baththe meat is removed and may be partially or entirely cooked to form aproduct suitable for canning or forother purposes. An alternative methodhas in some cases been employed by which the fresh meat is cubed andinitially cooked in a water bath followed by treatment with drycuringmaterials for an extended period of time. The product formed ineither case is found to have a substantially bland or flat tasteresulting from the loss of natural juices to the aqueous treatingsolution. The food value is likewise considerably impaired due to theloss of proteins and Vitamins contained in the juices which is indicatedby the fact that the product has lost from 2 per cent to 3 per centsolids content in the processing. Furthermore, in such prior methodsexcessive time periods are required in order to accomplish the curingprocess so that the meat is adequately preserved, resulting in thecurtailment of the operating capacity of a given plant and considerablyincreasing operating costs. Also, refrigeration expenses involved intheaforesaid second. method wherein the dry saltmethod of curingis usedconstitute a considerable item and materially add to the cost of theproduct. A further method which has been proposed here 4 Claims. (01..99-159) 25 F. on the inner wall of the kettle.

toforeis to simultaneously cure and to cook the beef-in a brine bath fora period of about 36 hours. The latter procedure likewise resulted inthe loss of Water soluble proteins and vitamins and the resultingproduct was found to have a bland flavor and lack the natural fullvflavor of the beef.

.Thepresent invention contemplates subjecting the meat inthe substantialabsence of extraneous liquids to temperatures relatively low but highenough to produce sufficientcooking to release the natural juices andcoagulate the proteins, adding an active curin agent either initially orduring the processing so as to be dissolved in the juices and cookingthe product for a sufilcient period to absorb the solids content ofthejuices including proteins and vitamins into the product with theactive curing agents. The active curingagent is incorporated during theprocessing after suificientjuicesarereleased to efiecti solution or, ifdesired, may be addedat any'point in the process by dissolving in asmall quantity of water. The absorption of the con centrated naturaljuices is found to impregn te the interior cell structure with theactive agent to accelerate the curing process and simultaneously restorethe natural constituents of the juices including the proteins, vitamins,and flavoring materials to the meat. The reconstituted and cured productif desired-is further processed by sterilization in hermetically sealedcontainers or; for example, by dehydration to form a dried product; v

""Inpracticing4;he..invention the desired cut g f m beef is sliced into2 inch cubes and charged to i a suitable steam jacketed cooker.

A preferred cooker ,is ordinarily of sufiicient size tojhold about 1000to 1500 pounds of meat and is steam jacketed to carry about 3 to 10pounds of pres-,

sure. After the raw meat is placed in the cooker,

it is cooked ata temperature from about 160 F. to 200 F., inside meattemperature, for 20 to minutes at about 10 pounds of steam pressurewhich produces a temperature of about 240 By this time considerablejuices; are released from thegmeat and the curing agents areincorporated into the charge in the proportion of about 2 to 5parts; ofV curing agent to 100 parts of meat. A preferred 3o curing agent for thepurpose of the invention con-;

ing agent employed may be widely varied byv one skilled in the artdepending'upon the degree of curing desired. In some cases a smallquantity of water, e. g. about 4 ounces to 1500 pounds of meat, may beemployed to-dissolve the sodium 40 nitrate and sodium nitrite. Followingincorporation of the curing agents, steam pressure is reduced from about3 to 5 pounds which produces a temperature of about 220 F. to 228 F. onthe inner wall of the kettle and the cooking continued for'a totalperiodof from 45 minutes to 1 hours. The meat is'agitated during theentire cooking operation by a slow moving stirrer or agitator,preferably mechanically driven and located on a shaft in the "center ofthe cooker.

The precooking operation may be carried out at theprocessis completed infrom 45 minutes to evaporation of moisture and absorption of theconcentrated natural juices and curing agents.

into the body of themeat. I ,7 7

During the initial stage of the-process a large 1 percentage of thenatural juices of the meat are released under the higher steam pressure.

meat juices.

At this point the meat is substantially submerged thus permitting themeats to withstand higher temperatures than otherwise without" impairingthe natural flavor and vitamin content. It has been found that bycooking the meat in the juices the necessity of adding moisture or;water is eliminated thereby facilitating re-absorption of the releasedjuices with dissolved curing agents to produce a product having a muchbrighter; more vivid color of greatly enhanced food value since proteinsand vitamins are retained within the meat. 'As themoisture'is evaporatedand reabsorbed on continued cooking, the steam pres that some additionalWater may be-adde'd during the. process, however, this prolongs theprecooking period and it is preferred that curing be accomplished solelyin the presence of the a natural meat juices.

The invention will be more fullyunderstoocl by the following specificexamples which are given by way of illustration.

Erample 1 A 1500 pound batch offresh' beef is reduced ,into"2 inch cubesand then charged to a steam jacketed kettle and precooked' withagitation for a period of about 30- minutes at a temperature of 170 F.to release a portion of the natural About45 pounds of a curing agentconsisting-of a mixture of sodium chloride, sodium nitrate and sodiumnitrite is then dissolved in the released juices and: the cookingcontinued for an additional period of 30 minutes with constant agitationAt the end' of this period the com centrated juices including the curingagents were discovered to be absorbed entirely into the partially cookedmeat. The product was then removed frointhe kettle, cut into smallerpieces and immediately stuffed into6 pound metal con A 4 perature of 180F. for a period of minutes, following which about 30 pounds of curingagent consisting of a mixture of sodium chloride and sodium nitrate wasdissolved in the released juices. The cooking process was then continuedwith constant agitation for an additional period of minutes whereuponthe product was removed.

in the juices, which serve as a cooking medium,

the .Qmduotwhile processingrltiscontefiijdlitd tainers. It is desiredthat an inside-meat temper- Example 2.,

a A 1500 pound batch of beef was prepared by slicing into 2 inch cubesand then charged into ajkettle and precooked with agitation at atem-'-from'the kettle, macerated and stufied into cans while retaining aninside temperature of ,F.

"which were hermetically sealed under a vacuum. :The canned product wasfurther processed at 240 F. under pressure for a period of 3 hours.

Although the invention has been described with I 9 specific reference tocorned beef, it has been found 15 applicable to other meat productsgenerally such as, for example, corned pork, and corned mutton.

An outstanding advantage is realized by the present invention in theproduction of a completely cured product in. an extremely short timeperiod Where it has previously required several weeks. The productresulting from'the treatment is sharply distinguished from theconventional product in that the curing agent is carried into theinterior of themeat by the re-absorption of the juices accomplishingauniform' cure throughout the body. Furthermore, in the conventionalcorning of beef; water soluble vitamins and proteins are almost entirelylost in the. picklingbath resulting in a solids loss of at least 2 percent,

whereas in the present process these valuable materials are retained inthe cell structure of the meat product which is demonstrated by anunchanged solids' content. The difference in the product' is likewiseevidencedjin the. materially brighter color than ordinary corned beefand a distinctive flavor. resulting from conservation of flavoringconstituents, which'are' usually lost in the pickling bath, Withinthe-meat.

Obviously, many. modifications and variations of the inventionhereinbefore set forth may be made without departing from the spirit andscope thereof, and, therefore onlysuch limitations should be imposedasare indicated in the appendedclaims. j

I claim:

, 1. The process of preparing corned meat which comprises: precookingthe meat in the substantial absence of. extraneous liquidsuntil naturaljuices are released; therefrom, said precooking being performed at a,temperature. of from about 160. F; to 200. Fjat atmospheriopressure andfor av time pfi iod' of; from, aboutv 20 to BQminutes, dissolving anactive, curing agent into. the released juices and further cooking the;product while maintaining the cooking, temperature of the productat.from; about 135 E9130 F. and causing free evaporation of moisturefor aperiod of time. of

from about 15;. to 70 minutes to concentrate and substantially absorbthe free juices and curing agent into themeat.

2:. The process.ofpreparingcorned beef which comprises precooking thebeef in the substantial absenceof extraneous liquid'suntil naturaljuicesare released; therefrom, said. precooking being performed at a,temperature of irom'about 1'60" F. .to, 200? F. at atmospheric pressureand'for, a

time period.-.of1 from; about 20 to 30 minutes; dis- I I time of; fromabout 1-5' to l0 minutes-to concen trate and substantially-absorb thefree juices-and curi-ng'agent into--the-meatz 3. In the process ofpreparing a cooked comer l:v substantially absorb 'dis blvtadmaterialsinto the meat.

meat product, the steps which comprise precook ing the meat in thesubstantial absence of-exfitraneous liquids at an inside meattemperature of from about 160 F. to 200 F. until natural juices arereleased therefrom, dissolving sodium chloride, sodium nitrate andsodium nitrite in the released juices and further cooking the productfor a period of time of from about 15 to 70 minutes to substantiallyabsorb the free juices and said dissolved materials into the meat.

4. In the process of preparing a cooked corned beef product, the stepswhich comprise precooking the beef in the substantial absence ofextraneous liquids at an inside meat temperature of from about 160 F. to200 F. until natural juices are released therefrom, dissolving sodiumchloride, sodium nitrate and sodium nitrite in the released juices andfurther cooking the product for a period of time of from about 15 to 70minutes 6 l the tree juices and said HARRY H. MOKEE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record inthe file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Alsberg July 12, 1927 OTHER REFERENCES The PackersEncyclopedia" by P. I. Aldrich, published by the National Provisioner1922, Chi- 20 cago, 111., pages 166, 167. (Copy in Div. 63.)

